Drip method

[Jade.a.deacon]

So getting some shrimp tomorrow first addition to the tank, people say about the drip method when adding them, would puttin the bag they come in into the fish tank and letting it float so temperatures match up, then add water from tank to bag slowly to acclimatise? Would this work well? If not how will I keep the temperature by adding water from tank to the bucket ? Many thanks in advance!

 

[cginter]

That should be fine. Jus make sure the bag is clean

 

[Jade.a.deacon]

Clean? As in no parisites e.c.t? Is it easy to tell? Thanks.

 

[robbrouse]

Could be wrong, but think he was talking about the outside of the bag that will be touching your tanks water.

 

[Jade.a.deacon]

Oh right haha thank you, feeling very silly now haha!

 

[howaboutme]

I drip for all inverts (except snails) by floating the bag to temp acclimate and then dumping the bag into a bucket. Then I drip tank water into the bucket until I get the salinity to match my tank. I have never worried about temp fluctuations once I dump the bag contents into the bucket. Besides, it's dripping water from your tank which has the correct temperature.
The temperature won't fluctuate that much and you're livestock surely won't be that sensitive for an hour or 2.

 

[spscrazy]

temp in container outside of tank could dip down if the temp in house is cold I use a heating pad on low wrapped in a towel under a small styrofoam box tilted slightly to keep one side with more water because when I get coral frags or inverts shipped to me there is never much water. I use IV type dripper with adjustable drip rate. works really good for me

 

[kschweer]

I wrote this a little while back. Hope it can help some. The second post is the final draft

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89510

 

[Jade.a.deacon]

It won't let me view it for some reason says I have no permission to view it ? X

 

[kschweer]

Acclimation Procedures For Fish, Corals, and Invertebrates



Proper acclimation of your fish, corals, and invertebrates is very important for the long-term survival of your animals. Acclimate is defined as “to accustom or become accustomed to a new environment or situationâ€. So, when we acclimate our fish, corals, and invertebrates we are making them accustomed to the new environment (our tank) that they will be put into.



Acclimation procedures differ for fish, corals, and inverts but the end goal is the same, to make the transition of these animals as stress free as possible. When acclimating we are trying to get these animals used to parameters in our tanks. The most important being temperature, salinity, and pH. Here are some of the more popular acclimation procedures.



Float Method



This method of acclimation can be used for both fish and corals but is not recommended for inverts, as they can tend to be a bit more sensitive.



1) Place bag with new fish/coral unopened into your tank and allow to float for between 10-15 minutes. By doing this you will slowly match the temperature of the water in the bag to that of your tank water.



2) Open the bag. Using a clean container (preferably a measuring cup) add about a half cup of aquarium water every 5 minutes or so until the bag is full.



3) Empty out about half of the water from the bag into another container. (Never add this water to your tank).



4) Again add about a half cup of water every 5 minutes or so until the bag is full.



5) Now your new arrival is ready to be added to your tank. Remove fish/coral from the bag (use a net for fish) and add to your tank. The water from the bag should be discarded. Never add this water to your tank.



As a side note with fish that have been shipped many people will turn off the tank lights for about 4 hours so the intense light will not stress the fish that has been in the dark for a while.



Drip Method



This method of acclimation will take slightly longer than the “float†method, but in my opinion is a gentler means of acclimation. First lets start with what is needed for this method. You will need a container that is small enough so that the fish/coral/invert is submerged by the water from its original bag yet large enough to handle more water. (I usually use a 5-gallon bucket and if the water does not cover the specimen, I use a towel to prop the bucket up on an angle) A length of airline is also needed and should be long enough to reach from the top of the tank to the bottom of the bucket. An airline valve is very helpful as well but this method can be done without it. A suction cup with a clip used for holding airline in a tank is also useful but again not totally necessary. A timer of some kind will also help (I usually use my cell phone).



1) Take the container that you have decided to use and put the specimen along with all the water that is in the bag it came in into the container. If need be prop up one side of the container to ensure the specimen is completely covered with water.





2) Now take the length of airline and put one end into your tank. This is where the suction cup used for airline is helpful; it will hold the end underwater.



3) Take other end of the airline and attach the airline valve if you have one. If you do not have one tie 2-3 loose knots in your airline.



4) Start a siphon in your airline by sucking one the end that is out of the water. Once the water starts to come out the end, it is time to adjust the flow. If you are using an airline valve simply, use the valve to slow the flow to about 2-4 drips per second. If you are not using a valve, the loose knots you put into the line will be used to adjust the flow. Pull the knots tight to slow the flow or loosen to speed up the flow. Just like with the valve 2-4 drips per second is the goal.



5) Position the airline so that it drips into the bucket where your specimen is. The goal is to double the amount of water in the container. Here is where I start a timer on my phone for 40 minutes. This is usually a sufficient amount of time.



6) After the 40 or so minutes the amount of water that you started with should have just about doubled. It is now time to move your specimen from the container to the tank. The use of a net is recommended for fish and for corals/most inverts I will use my hands. Make sure not to add any of the water from the container back into your tank.



7) After your specimen is safely in your tank, discard the water in the container making sure not to put any into your tank.



8) Something to consider with this method is the temperature of the water in the container because it can cool down rather quickly “outside†of the tank. If I am doing an extended drip, (for sensitive animals) I have a small heater that I use for the container. You must also remember that you are removing saltwater from your tank, so when topping it back off you must use saltwater not fresh to keep that salinity from really fluctuating.



It is also worth noting that some inverts and ever some fish may require additional time acclimating. This is because some of these animals can be extremely sensitive to changes in parameters.

 

[Jade.a.deacon]

Okay I have to admit something I am ashamed of, bare in mind I am new to this and these are my first marine fish brought today!
So, I brought two clown fish today and brought them home, I put the bag they were in into the water. About 5 mins had gone by when I added some water, after a minute or two later I noticed the bag they were in kept trapping them so they couldn't swim which means they can't breathe right? I kept trying to add more water to open the bag up but nothing worked so I panicked that they would suffercate and instead decided to take them straight out the bag into the tank after only say 6 minutes of them acclimatising (I know it's bad but I thought it would be better than them suffercating) they seem fine now swimming around frantically though but apparently this is normal in clown fish, will they likely to be ok or is there a huge risk of them now dying from shock? It's been about 5 hours and thy seem fine ? Thank you in advanced, please help!!

 

[kschweer]

I think they should be ok. The big factor is going to be how "different" your water and the water they came from are. Do you notice the fish gasping or breathing heavily? Are they swimming or sitting on the bottom?

For future fish I would recommend getting the things needed to drip acclimate. It's very easy once you have done it one or two times and makes your fishes transition pretty easy.

 

[Jade.a.deacon]

I definitely will next time for sure and just been watching them doesn't seem like they are gasping for air they are just swimming around the tank non stop one seems to like swimming up to the top of the water although it doesn't take any air in just swims up and down is this normal? And we'll my salinity is at 1.024/25 so I wonder if the fish shop would have it anywhere near that?
Also I gave them food yesterday stupid idea cause they were still shaken up by everything and didnt eat it just let it sink to the bottom, is this bad? Shall I take all bad food out by siphoning it (think it's called) will this cause extra stress? Or shall I just leave it and will they eventually eat food at bottom of tank? Thank you!

 

[Jade.a.deacon]

Okay correct fish swimming very fast up to top of water look like they try to catch something in their mouths (could be breathing lol) and then swim back down and only seems to be one that swims to the top is their a problem it's swimming around fine though?

 

[Jade.a.deacon]

Salinity 1.024/25
Ph 8.2
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrate no2 0.25ppm
Nitrate no3 10ppm
No3 was fine before I put fish in (little high at 5.0ppm) but now adding fish and added food yesterday that now just sitting on the floor if tank. Shall I do 20/30% water change? Done one two days ago but shall I now to get rid of food? Or will it stress fish out? Wonder if that's what's making fish swim to top?

 

[glb]

My clownfish were swimming upside down the morning after I got them. Then they started shaking. And they're fine. Clownfish are funny little fish.

 

[c_healy]

Your fish should be fine, but definetly look into getting things needed to drip acclimate next time. It is very easy.

Get some air tubing and a valve to go in one end. Place the tubing into your tank and the other end in bucket with the valve on that end. Next suck on the tubing until water begins to flow, adjust the valve so the water is slowly dripping. I start with about one drop every second or two. After about 30 minutes adjust the flow to several drops per second. And so on for about an hour.

You can do this for longer periods depending on how sensitive the type of fish being acclimated or how long they have been in transit.

Speaking of funny clownfish, the lfs in myrtle beach has a tomato clown that is always swimming upside down. 24/7 365 ....that fish is upside down. I asked the owner and he said the fish has always been like that.

 

[Jade.a.deacon]

Hahaha take it they are full of personality then! Personality as well as beauty! Hopefully they can survive living in my tank lol. Still learning!
One thing I do need to ask; I just did a 10% water change as nitrates were raising, I first turned the tank off (everything) then get some cold water from tap and add decolorinater (people have mixed views on this) then add boiled water to get temp up. I then added a cup of salt to bucket of water about 10lts as have 98lt tank. Checked salinity of tank water to the salinity of bucket to make sure they match, here's the problem tank was about 1.024 and now I took water out its gone up too 1.026, the bucket water was 1.024 which was the tanks salinity at the start, why Did the salt go up? I used a tank cleaner pump thing to get water out which should have also got out salt with it right? We'll once I added bucket water tank is still 1.026 why did it raise? Please help!

 

[clownfitch]

Don't put tap water in your tank bud. Before adding anymore livestock to your system you really need to do some research on the hobby. Just spend some time browsing through this and other forums, google question, etc... You will save yourself some money and some fish lives if you do so.

 

[Jade.a.deacon]

That's the thing I've been researching for months but there is only so much I can without doing it and experiencing these problems my self, I keep finding new questions to ask and new things arising x